The Lover
by Marisol Gaddi
Summary: Love has always been bittersweet. /AU/
1. Foreword

**Disclaimer: **_Not mine, not mine, not mine~ _Maid-sama is the sole property of Hiro Fujiwara.

**Warning(s):** Alternate universe, coarse language, and possible mild adult themes.

* * *

**Foreword**

**

* * *

**

Takumi Usui.

Tora Igarashi.

Two men both walking with an air of rich dignity…

whose lives twined with mine in the most unconventional sort.

Two men who had turned my life completely chaotic…

And, for that, I despise them both.

Loathe them, even.

Eight years have passed since I met them in high school

but one question still begs to be answered:

_What was the sick purpose behind our chance meeting?_

I can't believe I still don't know what it is.

And I probably never will.

All I was certain of, for the last few months,

- - _even now as I took my last strangled breaths _- -

that we were _all_ destined to crash and burn

the very moment our lives crossed.

* * *

**End of Foreword.**

**

* * *

**

**Author's Notes:**

Hello~ Mari here with another Maid-sama fan fic! It's a delicious love triangle between TakumixMisakixTora! Kyaaaa~

This story that solidified as I washed the dishes an hour and a half ago… I've been thinking about this plot for so long but it's only now that I decided to type it in. Updates won't be quick with this story too _(blame school)_ though this will only be a three-shot… but I'm hoping that seeing it published will force my creative juice to continuously flow for this one. ^^ _"Runaways" _is still a priority project!

Warning with this one… this is gonna be more dramatic than my other works and could possibly even border in angst. I'm feeling evil again. Kukuku~

This is still vague but this is just the foreword… hope you guys stay tuned for more with this one! :D

**BREAKING NEWS: **

**Review button wants to be clicked!**

Thank you for reading! Reviews are hearts! Constructive criticisms welcomed too. ;)

Hearts,

**Mari**

_November 8, 2010_


	2. Affair 01

**Disclaimer: **I doubt Hiro Fujiwara would have the twisted mind to even write a story like this. I do not own Maid-sama!

**Warning: **This was initially rated 'T' but after giving this story's rating a second-thought, I decided to just shift it to 'M' mainly because of this story's theme. I don't plan to write and or at least _too_ graphic adult themes but there will be implications and such. I leveled this up just to be safe. ;)

Hope you peeps still enjoy the twisting tale of _'The Lovers'_! :D

* * *

I dedicate this fanfic to my dear friend

_**e l l e . l a d y**_

Thank you for polluting my mind.

_...Further_.

Now, I have a good dosage of _"Vitamin C"_.

I love you very much.

T.T

* * *

"**Every life is a march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice."**

_Lyman Abbott_

_

* * *

_

At seventeen, she, who was the first female student council president of Seika High, the person who swore to protect the measly population of female students in that former all-boys school, lost her purity and innocence.

She lost her virginity to _him_.

She should have stopped him when he started thrusting deeply inside her relentlessly atop the hard wooden desk.

Roughly.

Hardly.

Lustfully.

Passionately.

Intoxicatingly.

_Addictively._

She had tasted blood that day when her first intention of even going there was to decline the offer of her transfer to the exclusive high school Miyabigaoka High but found herself tangled – literally and metaphorically – in a completely different pissed off, shitty mess.

But she had liked it. More than she should, actually. And that _was_ the reason why she had not stopped him even before they had gotten too far.

That day, inside the grand student council presidential office, marked the beginning of Tora Igarashi and Misaki Ayuzawa's surreptitious sexual exploits.

* * *

She was unsure if what happened during the late afternoon was even true. It wasn't a dream or a nightmare because she knew she was wide awake. Her tiredness was proof to that. It also wasn't an illusion or a hallucination because she had felt it. She was in pain and pain couldn't possibly be this profound in the midst of a fantasy world. And there was also the delirious pleasure she had felt when her body adjusted to his… manhood.

But that was a whole other thing.

She wasn't raped. She just… _knew__ that_ because being raped required being forced into… the act.

Admittedly, it was like that – dirty, wrong, and disgusting –… but only at first. He had tricked her into wearing a scanty maid outfit, threw a suitcase-filled money practically at her face, and pinned her violently between the table and his robust form. His head dipped slowly towards hers, to her clamped mouth and the instinctive desire to spit at him, to trash about, and scream for help kicked in.

But when his lips crashed on hers, all was forgotten. She didn't know what had gotten into her to be so receptive. She fought fire with fire, meeting all his heated kisses and tangling her tongue with his in a sloppy knot.

He, too, was momentarily taken aback by her willing responses, pulling away to ensure if it was the same all-mean-business girl that was still under him.

What he saw… enticed him.

Her eyes were wild and alive. Her skin aglow. It was weird but her tousled black hair made her look _fucking_ sexy. He liked what he saw and it roused him further. He couldn't help but voice out his thoughts to the girl. In a chilling voice, he said "You want me, don't you, Ayuzawa-_kaichou_?"

She had probably said _'yes'_ or something close to that, or even something that wasn't just along the lines of _'no'_ for he had laughed a bitter, cold laugh then gave her the worse imaginable, stabbing pain inside her crotch before bringing her high – so, _so_ high – into a cloud of ecstasy.

* * *

He let her go around six in the evening as he claimed to have an important engagement to attend to. He simply ordered for Kanade Maki, the student council vice president who was – to Misaki's embarrassment – waiting by the hallway, to bring her back her freshly washed school uniform then left. With a very peculiarly distant expression on his face, she briefly noticed.

Misaki couldn't believe that she had stayed for about an hour locked up in a room having sex with Igarashi-_kaichou_.

Numbly, she walked towards the door that led to the shower room.

* * *

She reached the subway station ten minutes pass seven. She had missed the last bus by fifteen painful steps down at nearest stop from Miyabigaoka, and had her thighs not been aching so badly, she could have made a run for it. She would have reached it, gotten inside, sat, and not walk all the way to the subway station.

It was a totally whore-rifying… er… horrifying feat all in all. As she traversed the dark roads in a sad, slow pace, the shame and guilt and self-hatred made their way little by little, like a disease, into her consciousness. Never had she felt completely desolated and alone.

A violent swirl of questions shook her head.

_'How could I have let him do that to me?'_

She didn't know.

_'I should get myself… tested in a clinic. Just to check if…' _

Yes. She should.

_'Why didn't I stop him?'_

Because she wouldn't.

_'What if he tells others?'_

She'd have to speak to him.

But what made her feel so dry and empty was the question _'Who are you really?'_

Glancing at her reflection in the shiny walls of the station, she decided that it wasn't wise to go home now in her state. The word _'shame'_ was practically written across her face.

Misaki took a seat on one of the stair's steps and waited.

* * *

At nine o' clock, she found the nerves to finally go home and was walking down the last two blocks towards her house when, passing by the park, a figure emerged from the dark shadows of the tree and called out to her.

"Ayuzawa."

She stopped, recognizing the voice oh-too well. "U-Usui! W-What are you doing out here so late?"

"I believe that I should be the one asking you that question, _Kaichou_." The endearment was strained and not lighthearted at all. His face clearly showed his concern for her. _Where were you?_ It asked. _I've been waiting for you since school went out. What kept you out so late?_

"I-It's really not your business what I choose to do at my own time, Usui. I was just running out some personal errands and lost track of time."

"_Kaichou?_ Lose track of time? Miss her shift at Maid Latte, even?" His voice had a certain rough edge in it. It was very subtle but Misaki disliked it nonetheless.

"Why are you being so accusatory?" She scoffed defensively.

Their eyes locked in a glaring war.

Usui sighed in defeat. "Even your friends were looking for you, Ayuzawa. They were worried sick as I was." He walked closer to her, and his hand came up to cup her face. "I'm sorry–"

An expression which she could only read as shock morphed his handsome face.

_Why was he looking at her like that?_

Realization dawned on her.

_Oh…_ she had unconsciously stepped back, away from him.

Her heart raced but, she noted, due to an entirely different reason than the usual. It wasn't the one that made her hot all over and made her long for his gentle caresses. No. It was the one that made her feel… _ill_.

"Ayuzawa!" He called, but she was far gone, running towards the comfort of her home.

* * *

She couldn't sleep at all that night.

It was lucky for her that her mother was out working a night shift at the hospital so, all that welcomed her that late night was an emotionless stare from her little sister, Suzuna.

* * *

She woke up an hour earlier than usual that day for she could not take the dreams that worked like a PowerPoint presentation of yesterday's events inside her head. It was a torture to sleep so she had given up on it and decided to do some advance reading on the lessons for the day.

But her mind failed to stay focused on the text' of her book. It would wander and continuously replay how Igarashi-_kaichou_'s kneading hands grope every curve of her body, or how his needy anatomy was able to elicit sultry cries from the back of her throat.

She remembered the pain, and the pleasure that came afterwards.

She remembered Usui's face.

And the flashbacks halted instantly at that last image.

She caught her fingers slightly tracing her inner thighs and a brand new wave of shame consumed her as she registered the motive of her actions.

'_How could you want for more?' _was her mental admonition.

* * *

Breakfast with Suzuna was a silent affair, as per usual. That did no good to distract herself.

Misaki finished her scrambled eggs in three mouthfuls and washed it down with her cup of lukewarm tea. Her little sister looked up from the other side of the dinner table with a curious tilt of her head. "In a hurry, Sis?"

"Yeah. Council paperwork. Sorry." She lied.

"Take care."

"You too. And don't forget to lock up!" Misaki called as she grabbed her schoolbag and made her way to the patio to put on her black shoes.

After pepping herself up a little, she heaved a deep breath and stepped out the door –

– And what she saw brought a swell of tears in her eyes. _'What the hell?'_

"Good morning, _Kaichou!_"

"Why the hell are you here?" She exclaimed, clearly baffled.

"I was waiting for you so we can walk to school together like a couple." Usui naturally answered with his signature lopsided grin.

"Y-You were out here all night, weren't you?"

He merely shrugged. She stood at the doorstep appalled.

"You're going to get me late for school, _Kaichou_." He whined.

What he said snapped her out of her reverie. "_Tch._ Stupid, perverted…" Misaki grumbled as she made her way towards the metal gate. "Move." She ordered Usui who was blocking the way.

He did not and instead look down at her solemnly.

"Sorry for yesterday." He said, gently reaching out to wipe away the wetness in the corner of her eyes. She instantly flushed at that; stepped back to rub her eyes roughly dry with her forearm.

"You already apologized yesterday, stupid Usui."

"Hmmm… I know."

She looked up straight into his brilliant green eyes in utter disbelief.

And there it was. The familiar heart racing, the familiar warm feeling she could only wish to stop spreading within her when she was with him. It confused her immensely but it had kicked out the remaining guilt off of her system and, for the first time since last afternoon's tryst, she felt normal again. As she stood in front of the grinning blonde young man, she felt slightly better about herself.

Yes. She would just forget about that one time fling and move on. The rich had nothing to do with the poor anyway. Plus, she was probably just one of the many girls Tora Igarashi used to quench his appetite and he would forget her just as well.

Misaki grinned slightly back at him. "Now you're gonna get us late, stupid Usui!" She shoved the gate open, Usui barely having time to step back and avoid getting hit by the metal bars.

Though, the question as to why she'd even acted strangely last night still nagged at the back of his head, he chuckled as he saw her smile, more than happy to see her back to her old, fiery self.

Together, they trudged towards to school, stopping over a convenience store once to get the perverted alien breakfast.

* * *

The day crawled slowly from the morning until the end of another school day in the afternoon and, by the time Misaki reached Maid Latte for work, she had completely forgotten about her shameless act and the irresistible pleasure.

Little did she know that it was only the calm before the storm.

* * *

_**- Affair 01 -**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Author's Notes:**

It's Christmas break! WOOOOO~!

And this is my first and official M-rated work!

…

Is this really something to be proud of? Ha-ha. Anyway, as I have mentioned earlier, there won't be any serious graphic stuff here if that's what you're gonna look forward to in the next chapters. Yes, it includes not writing whatever sexual stuff that happens between Misaki and Tora. I'm just not ready for that. -_- Not now anyway.

This was also initially just a oneshot story but as I thought about possible scenarios, I found that I couldn't compress it in just one go. It just keeps getting longer and longer! I shall be covering a couple of scenes that happened in the original arc (ones that involved Tora) and give 'em my little twist! Then we shall fair on to some scenes I've conjured up my head until the end of this story. :D

Hmmm… I've recently been out of balance… really, my minds in a complete mush of anything and everything. Sorry if my thoughts are running over each other too much and end up sounding confusing.

Oh, yeah! Now, that reminds me to give out another warning. Yup. This shall most likely be a sick/twisted/confusing/appalling/what-the-f-ing story so **please keep the pitchforks at bay** as we progress into it **for you readers have been warned**! This was a story that I reeeeeeeeally just wanted to do mainly for my equally twisted enjoyment and as a means to remove stress.

I hope you guys stick with me 'til the end! Reviews are much appreciated! :)

Thanks for reading! Advance happy holidays! ^^

Hearts,

**Mari**

_December 18, 2010_


	3. Affair 02

**Disclaimer: **My name doesn't even come close to "Hiro Fujiwara". Heck! I'm not even Japanese! So, no. Maid-sama ain't mine.

**Authoress' Notes 01:** I changed the rating back to 'T' again. Sigh… I guess I was really just too paranoid. But if I go "wayward" again… please let me know if I should shift this to 'M' rating again. Please~ X|

Oh, yeah. Lines with **asterisks** after 'em are **lines taken from the original arc**. Enjoy reading! ^^

* * *

"**There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy****."**

_Lope de Vega_

_

* * *

_

There was a quick rap at the door and Tora was broken off from his musings on a certain raven-haired girl. The distraction both relieved and annoyed him.

He couldn't believe that he was still thinking about _her_ even though a week has already passed. Never has this been the case. It was troubling him; confusing him immensely.

"Come in," he drawled.

Maki came in the room and, with a bow, "You have a visitor, _Kaichou_."

A spark of curiosity made him look up to the doorway for he wasn't expecting any visitor for the afternoon.

The person who came in did not fail to bring him complete amusement.

A coy smile made its way to his lips, "Ah. Takumi Usui. What a pleasant surprise to see you."

The blonde, who was still donning his Seika high school uniform, trudged forward until he stood in front of Igarashi's desk.

"So, what brings you–"

Usui cut him off, "I'm going straight to the point, what did you do to her?"

"_Her?_" Who the _hell_ was he talking about? They held a steady stare.

And then, something clicked. Tora's smile grew wider, cockier.

"Oh, you mean Ayuzawa-_kaichou_. _Ha!_ I think the better question is _what did she do to me_."

Usui's eyes narrowed into ominous slits, the blank façade cracking open. "If I ever find out what you've done to her, Igarashi, I swear to you that I will make you pay."

If Tora was ever shaken by the threat, he did not show it. "Hmm… well, this is a first. For once, you don't know everything," he remarked instead. "Why do you care so much anyway about what happens to that mere, poor girl?"

There was silence that came from Usui's end. His emerald eyes, though, hardened.

The bastard child of the Walker family and _that_ pseudo-maid? Tora started bellowing with unrestrained laughter. "You're in love with her!"

"Yes, I am."

The laughter died down in an instant as a sick feeling rose from Tora's gut.

Usui grabbed the other by the collar, making him stand from his leather seat.

"Let this be my final warning to you Igarashi, if you hurt her, I will _kill _you," he unceremoniously spat the words at his face, then dropped his hold and sauntered out the room without another sound.

Tora fell back to his chair the moment he was left alone.

Who was he to tell him what to do? Fury made his blood boil.

Tora stood up abruptly then shoved away everything that was laid in his desk – piles of paperwork, a small lamp, a glass of water, and pens all crashed down to the floor in loud thuds and shatters.

Maki intruded the room and the president yelled him out in an instant.

"Damn it." He cursed to himself as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose.

Why had Takumi Usui angered him so quickly, so unexpectedly?

What had he done?

Or rather… what had he said?

Understanding sparked inside him

Then he groaned as he realized what the source of his anger was.

_Jealousy._

_

* * *

_

Months had passed since the affair between Misaki and Tora transpired so it did not made sense to the former why the latter was too supportive of his council vice-president to buy out her workplace, Maid Latte.

She had hoped with all her heart that he wouldn't bother her after and when the summer season lazed towards its end, she had truly believed that she had hoped hard enough for her wish to come true.

But here she was standing alongside her co-workers and friends, all horrified of the proposal that Kanade Maki had just given.

They were buying Maid Latte out and Misaki instantly deducted the motivation behind the action. Her.

But… _no_. It couldn't possibly be.

They were leaving now and Misaki couldn't just let them leave. She needed to know – to _hear_ from his own mouth – the reason behind why they chose this place out of hundreds of others.

It could all just be pure coincidence.

Tora Igarashi did _not_, in any way, influence Kanade Maki in to doing this.

"Why? Why must it be here? Is it because I work here?"*****, was what she had demandingly asked once she had gotten out of the quaint café to follow the rich duo whilst still wearing her maid uniform.

But when her body crushed against his, the flame sparked and ignited.

It all came back.

The pleasure.

The pain.

_Usui._

Misaki's expression was grim as she held a shudder from driving up and down her spine.

"You're still putting on such an interesting makeup."*****, Tora sneered.

His mouth was so near and, with her chin locked between his fingertips, holding her face in place, she could taste the peppermint that wafted from his breath. _Delicious…_

She would have lost it and leaned further to taste the lingering breath mint this time if it not for Usui pulling her away. Her eyes widened in complete surprise and horror and, with that, she didn't fail to see the flash of… anger and hatred that passed through Tora's citrine eyes.

He sighed then smiled tauntingly at the both of them, back to his bullshit explanation of his participation in the whole affair – that he was simply helping a friend achieve success in his first business.

Misaki cried foul.

How could _he_?

Misaki was utterly sure that the Maid Latte was good and loved… the people whose lives had twined in that small café were, certainly, as determined to keep the establishment up and running as Kanade Maki was.

Her exact thoughts flooded out of her mouth, and it surprised her to be suddenly flung with a challenge.

There was a footman audition that would be held to search for suitable servers in Maki's butler café. He was inviting her to join so that she could show him her determination, one that would rival Maki's.

But, as he was about to get in the backseat of his vehicle, "Ah… pardon me. Females are not eligible for participation."*****

She stood fuming and disturbed as she watched his sleek limousine drive away into the dark of the night.

And, moved by her current state – as stupid as she was noble – she accepted; a plan concocting inside her head.

But, although anger fueled her whole body, she could not help but ask herself,_ 'What is he planning?'_

It has been months since the tryst but fear ripped her apart again, as raw and as painful as the first time.

_'What a threat Tora Igarashi really is,'_ she decided ultimately.

She despised him for that.

* * *

The weekend of the footman audition… was nothing Misaki had expected at all.

The very first thing that had racked her up was the number of participants, her competitions.

Usui and Aoi's secret team up was second.

Third was her almost-disqualification.

Then the fourth: her and Usui's sudden partnership.

The surprised had not ended with just those, though, and it was only the first half of the audition proper.

Misaki, dressed as a male in a butler's outfit, walked along and alone the hallway leading to Miyabigaoka's auditorium, stressing over the Three Idiots that had threatened to expose her real identity with their stupid yelling. However, she sighed one last time and headed towards the restroom, deciding to just drop the whole thing and focus on the second half starting soon, instead.

Misaki rounded one corner and was about to enter the door marked with a placard _'ladies'_ at the top when she heard footsteps and, looking ahead, saw Tora Igarashi smirking and walking towards her.

"_Tch_." She rigidly shifted from her initial course and moved to the other door marked 'gentlemen'…

… only to miss and bump gracelessly on the wall.

The audible cracking of her head on marble echoed on the empty halls and was soon blended with Tora's laughter.

Flushed, Misaki hastily entered the men's room.

For a few dizzy minutes, she leaned over the nearest sink she found to calm herself down. _'That bastard… leering and laughing at me like that…'_

When she had indeed calmed down, that was when she took in the sight of the restroom.

Sweat trickled down her neck.

What was this? What was that? It was her first time entering a male restroom and she was relieved to know that she was alone.

Misaki walked towards a familiar stall and, after tentatively opening the door, was further relieved to see a toilet bowl.

Then she felt strong hands push her roughly forward, pulled back before she hit the porcelain bowl, and crushed into a lip lock with Tora Igarashi.

He hungrily groped her anywhere and everywhere; his tongue plunged and probed inside her mouth when she had gasped. _Where did he come from?_

But a dam of pent up emotions and memories broke free and she found herself reciprocating his sensual onslaughts… just like the first time. She felt him smile against her lips and Misaki heard herself whimper and moan as he kissed her deeper. He pushed her back against the wall and lifted her up; her legs wrapped around his waist and she gasped as he wholly felt him.

_What was happening again?_

_Why was he doing this again?_

_Why was _she_ doing this again?_

She heard a loud thud thus breaking her trance. The fear, the guilt, the shame, Usui's expression… resurfaced. Misaki pushed his face away but he didn't look up at her and instead started nipping and licking down her neck. She whimpered again.

There was the sound of running water and the _'thud' _soon made sense to her. Someone else had entered the restroom. _How shameful…_

A thought snuck inside her hazy mind. "Someone… e-else is in here… would you… really like to have the Igarashi name tainted… like this?", she whispered harshly in his ear and the man instantly stopped. Misaki took the opportunity to push him away.

The two stood apart from one another, both leaning on each of the stall's walls. Misaki glared at Tora whose face was shielded by his hand. _How could she give in so easily again?_

The running water stopped, and the door opened and thudded close another time. Misaki instantly ran away from the stall, from the restroom, from the hall, from Tora.

A good distance later and when she was sure she wasn't being pursued, Misaki leaned back against the wall, panting, and her knees buckled down.

Her heart pounded erratically, her skin beaded out cold sweat. Misaki was gasping for air. Misaki felt shaken. She felt sick to the core. _So, so weak…_

The tears threatened to spill from her large eyes but then she remembered the reason why she was here anyway. She still had to protect Maid Latte from the pinch she'd brought it into.

Misaki, after taking one big gulp of air, stood up and made her way back to the auditorium. She'd push away what just happened in the back of her head… for now. She'd deal with him later on.

Upon arriving at the table she'd setup awhile ago with her partner, "You were gone awhile."*** **was what Usui had innocently remarked.

* * *

Horror. It was what Misaki had felt when she and Usui had badly fallen to the ground.

Helplessness when Usui, who got severely injured from the fall, still continued with the audition.

Then hurt and something else – something warm and foreign and strange and something she just refused to clearly identify – when Usui comforted _her_ with a hug as they waited for the ambulance to arrive, and also when he had held her hand in his hospital room until the drug they injected on him knocked him out into unconsciousness.

Misaki sat beside his bed for hours, watching his serene sleeping face, wondering why nobody, aside from the Maid Latte staff and she, has come to visit him, and mauling herself over and over again with her failure.

She loss the footman audition for sure which in turn would make Satsuki loose Maid Latte. _All because of you._

Not to mention, Usui got terribly injured because of her. _Useless._

A knock on the door broke her out from her thoughts and she turned to see a nurse, who came in to inform her that visiting hours were over for the day. She mumbled a dazed assent, earning her a suspicious glare from the elderly nurse. She tried again, "I'll be out very soon" and the nurse left at that.

Misaki sighed then turned back to the sleeping man. "S-Sorry, idiot Usui…" she choked out, tears forming in her eyes. She ran out of the room just before she completely lost control.

However, she reeled back as she took in the sight of Tora Igarashi, leaning a few feet away from the door that she just came out from.

"What are you doing here? Haven't you had enough bullying me and my friends?" she barked at him, the venom in her voice left unmasked.

A cocky smirk simply curled his thin lips. "Like I've said before, I was merely helping a good and trustworthy friend of mine."

"That's a load of bull."

He shrugged. "Believe what you want to believe in. Not my problem."

Misaki gritted her teeth then decided to walk away from _him_, and towards the hospital's exit.

"So, how is he?" He asked, seemingly unperturbed by her I-don't-want-to-talk-to-you-anymore vibe.

She remained silent but his lazy footsteps reverberated continuously behind her, getting his message that he expected to be answered. "_Usui_ is alright now," came her curt reply.

"Mm… I see. Good."

Misaki nodded.

"And how do you even intend on paying his hospital bills?" He probed further.

"H-He has his family to pay for that."

"And have you contacted them?"

"… No. I-I haven't gotten hold of their number."

"And you will never get hold of it." He suddenly stated with a tone of finality in it.

"Excuse me?" And that was when she faced him once more. "How can you even know something like… that." Her voice faltered at the end as she registered the omniscient look on his face.

"You… You know something that I don't… something important about that guy…"

"_Heh_. You don't know a lot of things, Ayuzawa-_kaichou, _especially about the things you're getting yourself into."

"Well, I'm sorry for not being worldly-knowledgeable," she grumbled, suddenly distracted by his remark. She didn't know what she was getting in to? What the hell was he talking about?

"I've taken care of his situation. You don't need to be troubled by _that_ guy anymore."

"_Eh?_ W-Why?"

"We're partially at fault. Don't want to taint the company name," was Tora's nonchalant reply.

"No… that's not it. I don't know… but I feel like there's a reason why you're suddenly doing these things. First, you're adamant to take away Maid Latte and now you're helping Usui. What do you want from me… really?"

"I want a lot of things from you Ayuzawa-_kaichou_" he said as he walked pass her. "And that includes your undivided attention."

"Wha–"

"What does Takumi Usui mean to you?"

She quickened her steps to catch up with the long strides of the young Igarashi heir. "What did you say?" she asked, appalled.

Tora remained tightlipped for once which only irked Misaki further.

"It's assuring to know that you're capable of shutting up from time to time."

He gazed at her with slight amusement. "And what does that mean?"

Misaki sighed. "Since I mentioned it anyway… You… You're not going to tell anyone about what happened between us, right? T-The one awhile ago and also t-t-that one a few months ago…"

He looked at her flushed face from the corner of his eyes and Tora then felt a familiar bubbling rage brewing thick in his throat. "Why shouldn't I?" he managed to ask calmly.

She gasped. "_'Why' _you say? Didn't you just mention that you care about your company's reputation? If they knew about what you did with someone like me…"

"And what if _I_ don't care if it's with the likes of _you_?"

"If you don't care then well, quite frankly, _I_ do." Misaki said angrily. "I'm the first female president of Seika High and students there expect a lot from me. If they knew about what happened… all the trust they put in me… I'll just let them down…" Then she murmured thoughtfully to herself, "I'll let _him_ down…"

Tora snickered bitterly at her response but, nonetheless, continued walking alongside her. "I never "_kiss"_ and tell, Ayuzawa-_kaichou_, I assure you that," he said once they reached the elevator, pressing the _'down'_ button once.

Misaki looked at him in complete shock. _That was it? _"T-Thank you, Igarashi-_kaichou_."

The elevator doors dinged open and Tora quickly stepped in and pushed the _'close'_ button at the same time. "Oh, but I'm not doing you a favor, Ayuzawa-kaichou."

"Eh?"

And the metal doors completely shut.

"This is blackmail."

* * *

**Affair 02**

**

* * *

**

**Authoress' Notes 02:**

Hi there! Thank you very much for reading this chapter of _'The Lover'_! Woo~

This chapter has been on the works longer than usual and I'm really happy that I finally got to finish it today! Things are starting to heat up… I just hope I know what's gonna happen next (I forgot what I was supposed to do with this -.- Damnit.).

I really am loving being evil through Tora's character. *cackles* But what about you guys? What say you about Tora Igarashi? XD

Ha-ha… well, I'm gonna let you guys off now! Please review!

_Kung Hei Fat Choi~_

Hearts,

**Mari**

_February 2, 2011_


End file.
